Beaufort County planner presents corridor and access-management proposals including roundabout for Cherokee Farms and regional ITS plan

Beaufort County planners outlined a package of intersection, access and system-level changes aimed at improving safety and mobility across the county's busiest corridors, county planner Kevin Bellman told the council. The presentation highlighted a proposed roundabout to serve the approved Cherokee Farms development, signal and geometric changes on US 21 and US 278, and an ITS (Intelligent Transportation System) master plan to coordinate traffic cameras and adaptive signals.

The proposals grew out of corridor and access-management studies that documented high traffic volumes and crash "hot spots," Bellman said, noting that some segments show average daily traffic in the tens of thousands and that many crashes are non-junction events. "Safer intersection design reduces the probability of severe crashes and improves mobility of the corridor," Bellman said, describing capacity tweaks at roundabouts, signal placement where pedestrian crossings are expected, and design concepts such as 'bow-tie' intersections and protected left-turn phasing.

Why it matters: the studies map current conditions and recommend prioritized, fundable projects. Council members and participants pressed staff about speeding on local streets, pedestrian safety near schools and recreation centers, and how the county will coordinate funding with developers and state agencies.

Residents and council members raised specific safety concerns on the Joe Frazier/Laurel Bay stretch, where a council member said residents report vehicles speeding after a roundabout toward Larabay Baptist Church. "Can we look at that and consider slowing the traffic down in that area?" the member asked. Bellman said the study included speed and crash analyses and that the county can perform field validation and targeted testing.

On Cherokee Farms, Bellman described a roundabout concept intended to give direct access to the new development and reduce queuing at the existing access to Habersham. He said the roundabout concept is in the development agreement for Cherokee Farms and is currently prioritized in the study; Bellman estimated the roundabout construction could exceed $300,000 and noted that funding and exact cost shares remain to be clarified.

At the regional scale, the ITS master plan seeks to make traffic signals, cameras and detection systems interoperable across jurisdictions. Bellman said the county currently has a patchwork of signal ownership and camera access'"we have 171 signals across the region" and many cameras are owned by the sheriff's office'and that the master plan will inventory assets, define roles for monitoring and response, and recommend adaptive-signal and detection upgrades. "We want to build a reliable ITS architecture," he said, adding that adaptive controllers and AI-enabled optimization will be part of the long-term approach.

Other corridor recommendations included a set of access-management changes on Bluffton Parkway (right-in/right-out and a "3-quarter" access concept at certain intersections) and geometric improvements on US 278, where Bellman said crash density and poor intersection service levels warrant targeted widening, adaptive signal timing and removal of some merge lanes.

Bellman said many of the recommended changes are not yet funded but will be prioritized for funding based on the studies. He also noted the need for cross-jurisdiction cooperation with SCDOT and adjacent counties for segments such as US 278 and for I-95 interchange impacts. The presentation concluded with scheduling: staff has collected data and moved to evaluation and build-alternative phases, and a public meeting was announced for March to review concepts.

The chair thanked Bellman for the briefing and the meeting proceeded to scheduling business before adjourning.